Wrap for packaging at least one object, of the type consisting of a shrinkable plastic material sleeve

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to a wrapper for packaging one or more articles, the wrapper being constituted by a sleeve of heat-shrink plastics material for shrinking onto the article(s) for packaging, said sleeve being obtained from a film folded in half and looped by uniting the two end zones concerned. According to the invention, the two end zones concerned are essentially touching facing free edges, and they are united by an overlap strip adhering to said zones on one of the faces of the sleeve on either side of the two facing free edges, the other face of said sleeve then being essentially smooth. This makes it possible to provide a heat-shrink sleeve that can be printed on the inside, that is recyclable, and that presents very satisfactory appearance for its smooth face on the inside or the outside.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to the field of packaging article(s), and moreparticularly packages made by means of a wrapper constituted by a sleeveof heat-shrink plastics material for shrinking onto the article(s)concerned.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The technique of packaging one or more articles using a heat-shrinksleeve made in the form of a sleeve which is placed around thearticle(s) for packaging and then heat-shrunk onto articles has alreadybeen in use for about thirty years. The technique of heat-shrinking byapplying a heat field to the outside of the sleeve in order to shrinkthe sleeve uniformly on the article, even when the section of saidarticle varies greatly, is now thoroughly mastered. Also mastered arethe techniques of anamorphosis that make it possible to print on thesleeve and ensure that the printing remains readable after the sleevehas shrunk onto the article, with this being particularly important inthe fields of pharmaceuticals or cosmetics.

In this type of technique, the wrapper is constituted by a sleeve ofheat-shrink plastics material that is obtained from a film that isfolded in half and closed by uniting the two end zones concerned. In allcases, provision is made for the two end zones concerned of the filmsthat have been folded in half to overlap, with the two zones beingplaced one on the other, so that one belongs to the outside face and theother to the inside face of the sleeve as formed in this way, the zonesbeing adhesively bonded to each other, in general by heat-sealing or bycold-setting adhesive, or sometimes by means of an adhesive that isreactivated by heat.

Such an overlap between the end zones in question leads to a certainnumber of drawbacks that are well known to the person skilled in theart.

The first of these drawbacks is the consequence of a sharp edge beingpresent on the inside face of the resulting sleeve, which edge can causescratching when the article for packaging is made of metal, for example,or is to present a face that is shiny. A second drawback lies in thedifficulty of printing around the entire circumference of the insideface of the sleeve in a prior operation, it being understood thatprinting is performed while the film is flat, before said film is foldedin half to form a sleeve. The strip corresponding to the overlapping endzones concerned spoils the printed decoration, and this spoiling of thedecoration will inevitably be visible on the outside since it isnecessary to use a plastics film that is transparent in order to makethe sleeve.

Finally, mention should be made of a drawback that is inherent to themechanical and chemical connection that is reinforced in the overlappingend zones, with the practically indestructible nature of this connectionmaking it necessary to provide tear-strip systems with a line ofmicroperforations for use when it is desired to open the heat-shrunksleeve, e.g. in order to have access to a zone in which a flask or abottle is closed. The person skilled in the art knows that this type ofconnection, in particular when heat-sealing is used, cannot becontrolled very precisely, such that the coefficient of adhesionalthough always very high is never under control. Finally, when it isdesired to use articles that are suitable for being recycled, forexample bottles made of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), the reinforcedconnection where the end zones overlap means that the sleeve remainsassociated with the article that it wraps, and unfortunately the sleeveis not always made of a plastics material that is recyclable.

The state of the art relating to heat-shrunk sleeves is illustrated bythe following documents U.S. Pat. No. 6,126,959, GB-A-2 280 656,WO-A-97/28062, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,775,019, and the teaching thereof isbriefly outlined below.

Document U.S. Pat. No. 6,126,959 describes a heat-shrink plasticsmaterial wrapper structure with a detachable flap, made by two folds andtwo lines of sealing. After being shrunk onto an article, it should beobserved that that structure leads to a radial edge projecting over theentire height of the wrapper, which goes against the search for a facethat is smooth.

Document GB-A-2 280 656 describes a heat-shrink sleeve presenting inentirely conventional manner a tear-off strip arranged along a generatorline of the sleeve.

In addition, document WO-A-97/28062 describes a wrapper having a narrowpocket. There is no question of seeking to provide a smooth face.

Document U.S. Pat. No. 5,775,019 describes a heat-shrink sleeve havingtwo juxtaposed compartments, one of which is optionally removable anddoes not wrap the article, thus being free to perform some auxiliaryfunction (a pocket for housing instructions or gloves, or a handleprovided by cutouts that coincide).

Finally, mention can be made of other documents that illustrate thetechnological background, and that do not relate directly to heat-shrinksleeves.

For wrappers made of paper, reference can thus be made to JP-A-08 058756 which describes a connecting bridge between two edges of a papersleeve, the bridge being provided by a segment of heat-shrink strip (onshrinking, the paper sleeve is thus tightened by the circumferentialsize of the strip segment shrinking), and to JP-A-04 018 250 whichdescribes two folded reinforced strips of paper secured to either sideof an article, and having a free end that is detachable in order to formtwo flaps that lie face over face and constitute a handle for takinghold of the article.

For rubber wrappers, reference can be made to document U.S. Pat. No.4,796,937 which describes a rubber sleeve closed onto a bottle andpresenting a projection that acts as a handle for grasping. The facingedges are bonded together to form the wrapping cylinder.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

An object of the invention is to devise a higher-performance wrapper forarticle-packaging article(s), that does not present the above-mentioneddrawbacks inherent to the presence of a heat-sealed or adhesively-bondedoverlap between end zones of a film that has been folded in half.

GENERAL DEFINITION OF THE INVENTION

According to the invention, this problem is solved by anarticle-packaging wrapper, the wrapper being constituted by a sleeve ofheat-shrink plastics material for shrinking onto the packagedarticle(s), said sleeve being obtained from a film folded in half andclosed by uniting the two end zones concerned, said end zones havingfacing free edges that are essentially touching, and being united by anoverlap strip adhering to said zones on one face of the sleeve on eitherside of the two facing free edges, the other face of said sleeve thenbeing essentially smooth.

In a particular embodiment, the overlap strip adheres to the end zoneson the outside face of the sleeve, the inside face of said sleeve beingessentially smooth. In particular, the essentially smooth inside face ofthe sleeve is decorated, the decoration being visible from the outsideby transparency.

The presence of an essentially smooth inside face avoids any risk ofarticles being scratched in the event of the walls of an article beingfragile or shiny.

In a variant, provision can be made for the overlap strip to adhere tothe end zones on the inside face of the sleeve, the outside face of saidsleeve being essentially smooth.

By way of example, a sleeve having a smooth outside face may beparticularly welcome in the field of perfumery, so as to ensure that theoutside wrapper presents good feel when held.

The overlap zone may be bonded to the end zones by means such asheat-sealing, ultrasound welding, or in a variant adhesive or the like,in which case the coefficients of adhesion may be identical or differenton either side of the two facing free edges. When using an adhesive orthe like, provision can be made for the substance such as an adhesive ora varnish that is used for bonding purposes to be soluble in anappropriate solvent, so as to make the packaged article(s) more suitablefor recycling. When the wrapped article is discarded after use, it thensuffices to soak it in a batch of said solvent to cause the sleeve toopen naturally and become detached from the packaged article. Thesubstance such as adhesive or varnish could, in a variant, be a peel-offadhesive, so as to make it easier to remove the overlap strip and openthe sleeve.

In another embodiment, the overlap strip is extended laterally, at leastone side thereof, by a flap that does not adhere to the outside face ofthe sleeve, or at most adheres via isolated spots only. In particular,the or each flap is connected to the portion of the overlap strip whichadheres to the outside face of the sleeve via a precut line, so thatsaid flap is detachable.

In a variant, provision can be made for the or each flap to present aninternal cutout so that said flap can act as a handle for holding thepackaged article(s).

In another particular embodiment, the overlap strip presents at leastone line of microperforations extending in the longitudinal direction ofsaid strip, in the vicinity of the facing free edges, so as to enablethe sleeve to be torn open.

Provision can also be made, in the vicinity of at least one bonding zoneof the overlap strip, for the wall of the sleeve to present a line ofmicroperforations so as to enable the sleeve to be torn open.

Under such circumstances, the overlap strip is advantageously extendedat one of its ends by an opening tab.

Finally, provision can be made for the overlap strip to be made of mono-or bi-oriented heat-shrink plastics material having strong shrinkingpower in its width direction, so that it is itself shrunk onto thearticle(s) together with the wall of the sleeve.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other characteristics and advantages of the invention will appear moreclearly in the light of the following description and the accompanyingdrawings showing particular embodiments.

Reference is made to the figures, in which:

FIG. 1 shows a packaging wrapper in accordance with the invention beingput into place on an article, which in this case is a perfume spray, thesleeve constituting the wrapper presenting an overlap strip bonded tothe outside face of the sleeve;

FIG. 2 is a section on II-II of FIG. 1 through the sleeve on its own;

FIG. 3 shows the article on which the above-mentioned sleeve has beenheat-shrunk;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary section showing the zone of the overlap stripforming part of the sleeve shrunk onto the article;

FIGS. 5 to 7 are similar to above FIGS. 1, 2, and 4, and show a variantin which the overlap strip is bonded to the inside face of the sleeve;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a sleeve whose essentially smoothinside face is decorated;

FIG. 9 and FIG. 10, which is a section thereof on X-X, show a variant inwhich the overlap strip is extended laterally by a detachable flap;

FIG. 11 and FIG. 12, which is a section thereof on XII-XII, show anothervariant in which the overlap strip is extended by two detachable lateralflaps;

FIGS. 13 and 14 show two other variants in which the overlap strip isextended laterally respectively by one or by two flaps for forming ahandle; and

FIGS. 15 and 16 show two other variants in which the overlap strip isextended respectively by a flap or by an opening tab serving as a pullmember for opening the sleeve when in the shrunk state on the article(s)concerned.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIGS. 1 and 2 show a wrapper in accordance with the invention forpackaging article(s), the wrapper serving in this case to wrap a singlearticle referenced 1, which article is constituted by a perfume spray,comprising a body 2 surmounted by a pushbutton-forming cap 3 fitted witha spray nozzle 4, the circular connection zone, referenced 5,corresponding to a large change in section between the body 2 and thecap 3.

The packaging wrapper referenced 10 is constituted by a sleeve 11 ofheat-shrink plastics material, which sleeve is open at both ends, beingdefined by two free edges 17 that occupy two parallel transverse planes.The sleeve 11 is shown here as not being perfectly cylindrical, but asbeing in the form of an open sheath having two end folds, as a reminderthat this type of sleeve is obtained by cutting segments from a flatsheath that is wound on a reel.

The sleeve 11 is thus obtained from a film that is folded in half andclosed by uniting the two end zones concerned. In accordance with anessential characteristic of the invention, the two end zones concerned,referenced 12 and 13, are facing free edges 12.1 and 13.1 which areessentially touching, with these zones being united by an overlap strip15 that is bonded to both zones over one of the faces of the sleeve 11on either side of the two facing free edges 12.1 and 13.1, while theother face of said sleeve then remains essentially smooth.

Thus, unlike the techniques that are in universal use for makingheat-shrink sleeves obtained from a film that is folded in half andclosed by uniting mutually overlapping end zones, in this case, the endzones are placed edge to edge so that the face of the sleeve oppositefrom the face carrying the overlap strip 15 is perfectly smooth.

In the variant of FIG. 1, the overlap strip 15 adheres to the end zones12, 13 on the outside face 14 of the sleeve, so that the inside face 16of said sleeve is essentially smooth.

Once the sleeve 11 has been placed over the article 1, said sleeve isheat-shrunk onto said article in conventional manner, thus leading tothe configuration shown in FIG. 3. The article 1 is then surrounded botharound its body 2 and around its cap 3 by the heat-shrunk sleeve.

The overlap strip 15 may be made of amorphous plastics material, inwhich case said strip is not involved in shrinking, which does notmatter insofar as far as the width of this overlap strip is small inpractice. Nevertheless, it may be preferred for the overlap strip 15 tobe made of a mono- or bi-oriented heat-shrink plastics material havinghigh shrinkage power in its width direction, so that it is itself shrunkonto the article together with the wall of the sleeve 11, thereby“tracking” the deformation of said wall during shrinkage.

The section of FIG. 4 shows clearly the two ends of the filmconstituting the sleeve 11 which are brought free edge against free edge(edges 12.1 and 13.1). This edge-to-edge disposition eliminates thesharp edge which is inevitably present in the conventional configurationof one of the end zones of the closed film being overlapped on theother. This avoids any risk of scratching the article when the wall ofsaid article is fragile.

As shown in FIGS. 5 to 7, in a variant, provision can be made for theoverlap strip 15 to be bonded to the end zones 12, 13 on the inside face16 of the sleeve 11, in which case it is the outside face 14 of saidsleeve that is then essentially smooth. Such an embodiment is moreparticularly desirable when it is desired for the article that ispackaged by a heat-shrink sleeve made in this way to have an outsideappearance that is completely clean, as can be the case in the field ofperfumery.

Another advantage of the smooth inside wall of the sleeve lies in thepossibility of organizing printing with sophisticated decoration overthe entire inside face of the sleeve, with the printing being performedwhile the film is still flat, prior to the film being folded in half toform the sleeve. FIG. 8 shows this advantage, and it can be seen thatthe essentially smooth inside face 16 of the sleeve 11 is decorated inthis case by means of a pattern referenced 20, which pattern can be seenfrom the outside because the film is transparent. Specifically, thepattern 20 is represented by three letters “A”, one of which is disposedastride the facing free edges 12.1 and 13.1. Because there is no overlapbetween the end zones 12 and 13, and because the ends of the film areplaced free edge against free edge, the printing that is performed whilethe film is flat, is not affected in any way by the film being folded inhalf in order to constitute the sleeve. The full 360° of the cylindricalsurface is thus made entirely available for printing and/or decoratingthe sleeve. For this purpose, use can be made of printing techniquesthat use a sublimable ink, with the force generated by the sleeveshrinking contributing to transferring the decoration made usingsublimable ink onto the packaged article.

In general, whatever the position of the overlap strip 15, provision canbe made for said overlap strip to be bonded to the end zones 12 and 13by heat-sealing or by ultrasonic welding, or in a variant for it to bebonded to the end zones 12 and 13 by adhesive or the like.

When using adhesive, it is possible for the coefficient of adhesion oneither side of the facing free edges 12.1 and 13.1 to be identical ordifferent, depending on circumstances. The strip 15, which may be anadhesive strip, may receive coatings of adhesive or varnish that areselected for the respective halves of its width on opposite sides of thezone of contact between the edges of the sleeve wall. It is thenpossible to have complete control over the coefficient of adhesion,depending on the application concerned, and consequently it is possibleto determine accurately the tearing force that will be required to openthe sleeve, with such a force being specific to each application underconsideration.

In addition, when using an adhesive or the like for the overlap strip,provision can be made for the adhesive or the varnish used to be solublein an appropriate solvent, e.g. hot water, so as to make the packagedarticle(s) more suitable for recycling. When the packaged article isdiscarded, it suffices for the empty package to be recovered and plungedinto a bath of the solvent in order to cause the film covering thearticle to become unstuck, with the sleeve then opening quite naturallyin the vicinity of the overlap strip. It then suffices to recover theopened sleeve which has returned to the state of a flat film, in orderto be able to recover the packaged containers, e.g. bottles ofpolyethylene terephthalate. Naturally, under such circumstances,provision can be made to enhance the recyclable nature of the packagingas a whole by making the sleeve from a plastics material that islikewise suitable for being recycled, e.g. oriented polypropylene (OPP).

Provision can also be made for the substance such as adhesive or varnishthat is used for sticking the overlap strip 15 to be a peel-offadhesive, so as to make it easier to remove said strip in order to openthe sleeve 11.

In accordance with another variant of the invention, it is possible tomake provision for the overlap strip 15 to be extended, on at least oneside thereof, by a flap that does not adhere to the outside face 14 ofthe sleeve 11, or at least adheres thereto via isolated spots only. Suchvariants are shown in FIGS. 9 to 15.

In FIGS. 9 and 10, it can be seen that the overlap strip 15 is extendedlaterally on one side thereof by a flap 15.1 that does not adhere to theoutside face 14 of the sleeve 11. FIG. 9 has a shaded area representingthe portion of the overlap strip 15 that is bonded to the outside wall14 of the sleeve 11. Such a flap can be used for carrying information,or in a variant it can constitute a removable coupon, in which case theflap 15.1 is connected to the portion of the overlap strip 15 which isbonded to the outside face 14 of the sleeve 11 via a precut line such asthe line 21.

FIGS. 11 and 12 show a variant in which the overlap strip 15 is extendedlaterally on both sides by flaps 15.1 and 15.2, each of these flapsbeing detachable via an associated precut line 21.

Another function can be performed by such a flap that does not adhere tothe outside face 14 of the sleeve 11, in particular a function ofholding the article. This is shown in FIGS. 13 and 14, where it can beseen that the single flap 15′.1 (FIG. 13) or the two flaps 15′.1, 15′.2(FIG. 14) present internal cutouts 18.1, 18.2, such that each flapconcerned can be used as a handle for holding the packaged article(s).The presence of an internal cutout in these flaps, where cutting out canbe performed while the film is still flat, runs the risk of possiblyleading to unattractive deformation while the sleeve is being shrunk,however this is of little importance since the flaps are narrow. Forflaps that are wide, reinforcing elements could be provided surroundingthe peripheral outlines of the cutout (variant not shown herein).

FIG. 15 shows another function performed by a flap 15.1 laterallyextending the overlap strip 15. This is a function of enabling thesleeve that has been heat-shrunk onto the article in question to be tornoff. In this case, provision is made for the overlap strip 15 to presentat least one line of microperforations 19 extending in the longitudinaldirection of said strip in the vicinity of the facing free edges 12.1and 12.2 so as to enable the sleeve 11 to be opened by being torn open.The flap 15.1 then makes it easier to grasp the sleeve in order to exertthe necessary tearing force thereto.

In FIG. 16, there can be seen another variant, in which the overlapstrip 15 performs the function of a tear-off strip in addition to itsuniting function for closing the film in a loop. Under suchcircumstances, in the vicinity of at least one bonding zone of theoverlap strip 15, and in this case both zones, the wall of the sleeve 11presents a line of microperforations 22 so as to enable the sleeve 11 tobe torn open by pulling on the overlap strip. In order to facilitateapplying the force needed for tearing open, provision can be made, asalso shown in FIG. 16, for the overlap strip 15 to be extended at oneend by a pull tab 23.

A packaging wrapper is thus provided which is constituted by aheat-shrink sleeve presenting an inside face or an outside face that isessentially smooth, because the facing free edges of the film areessentially touching. The term “essentially touching” as used in thecontext of the present description covers an edge-to-edge gap lying inthe range 0 to ten-tenths of a millimeter only. When the gap becomes toogreat, the drawback of the traditional overlap reappears with sharpedges.

Although the wrappers described above relate to packaging singlearticles, the invention can also be applied to sleeves having aplurality of compartments enabling a plurality of articles to bewrapped.

The invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, but onthe contrary covers any variant using equivalent means to reproduce theessential characteristics specified above.

1. A wrapper for packaging one or more articles, the wrapper beingconstituted by a sleeve of heat-shrink plastics material for shrinkingonto the article(s) for packaging, said sleeve being obtained from afilm folded in half and looped by uniting the two end zones concerned,wherein the two end zones concerned are essentially touching facing freeedges, and they are united by an overlap strip adhering to said zones onone of the faces of the sleeve on either side of the two facing freeedges, the other face of said sleeve then being essentially smooth. 2.An article-packaging wrapper according to claim 1, wherein the overlapstrip adheres to the end zones on the outside face of the sleeve, theinside face of said sleeve being essentially smooth.
 3. Anarticle-packaging wrapper according to claim 2, wherein the essentiallysmooth inside face of the sleeve is decorated, the decoration beingvisible from the outside by transparency.
 4. An article-packagingwrapper according to claim 1, wherein the overlap strip adheres to theend zones on the inside face of the sleeve, the outside face of saidsleeve being essentially smooth.
 5. An article-packaging wrapperaccording to claim 1, wherein the overlap strip is bonded to the endzones by means such as heat-sealing, ultrasound welding, or adhesive. 6.An article-packaging wrapper according to claim 1, wherein the overlapstrip adheres to the end zones by adhesive or the like, with thecoefficient of adhesion on either side of the two facing free edgesbeing identical or different.
 7. An article-packaging wrapper accordingto claim 6, wherein the substance such as adhesive or varnish used forbonding the overlap strip is soluble in a suitable solvent, so as tomake the packaged article(s) more suitable for recycling.
 8. Anarticle-packaging wrapper according to claim 6, wherein the substancesuch as adhesive or varnish used for bonding the overlap strip is apeel-off adhesive, so as to facilitate removal of said strip and openingof the sleeve.
 9. An article-packaging wrapper according to claim 1,wherein the overlap strip is extended laterally, at least on one sidethereof, by a flap that does not adhere to the outside face of thesleeve, or that adheres thereto via isolated points only.
 10. Anarticle-packaging wrapper according to claim 9, wherein the or each flapis connected to the portion of the overlap strip which adheres to theoutside face of the sleeve via a precut line so that said flap isdetachable.
 11. An article-packaging wrapper according to claim 9,wherein the or each flap presents an internal cutout, so that said flapcan be used as a handle for grasping the packaged article(s).
 12. Anarticle-packaging wrapper according to claim 1, wherein the overlapstrip presents at least one line of microperforations extending in thelongitudinal direction of said strip, in the vicinity of the facing freeedges so as to enable the sleeve to be torn open.
 13. Anarticle-packaging wrapper according to claim 1, wherein the wall of thesleeve presents a line of microperforations in the vicinity of at leastone of the zones where the overlap strip adheres thereto, therebyenabling the sleeve to be torn open.
 14. An article-packaging wrapperaccording to claim 12, wherein the overlap strip is extended at one endby a pull tab.
 15. An article-packaging wrapper according to claim 1,wherein the overlap strip is made of a mono- or bi-oriented heat-shrinkplastics material having high shrinkage power in the width directionthereof, so that it is itself shrunk onto the article(s) together withthe wall of the sleeve.